Of Kings and Queens
by CJWrites
Summary: When Alfred was chosen as the next King of Spades, Matthew knew it would change their lives. However with politics, a utilitarian court and international tension all around them, he didn't know how much it would change not only them, but everyone around else and the Land of the Deck itself.
1. Prologue

**Note: **This fic is rated T. Not for the reasons you might think. Yes there is (mild) swearing and violence but that would only give the fic a K+ rating. I'm not sure if "Mature Content" is only for sexual encounters and suggestions (which I might put in giving it a M) but I'm pretty sure you wouldn't try to explain the situation in the Middle East or the complexity of WWI to a kid without dumbing it down 10 notches. This will also contain subject matter (chemistry, politics ect.) which an average 6th grader wouldn't understand.

**Genres **(full list in decreasing order of importance): Politics, Philosophical, (albeit early) Steampunk, Low/Science Fantasy, Drama, Romance

**Pairings:** Pairings are not going to be announced and this will shape sorta like a love dodecagon in the end, if you do not like a pairing, don't panic because it might not happen anyways (I tend to like the popular/canon ones) and it's not going to be a) fluff nor b) very prominent.  
In case you don't know CE means Current Era. I use this to denote timeframe in my story. We'll find out more later. The first arch is dedicated to Alfred learning about the World of Cards.

**Pilot: The Announcement**

_~We were the Kings and Queens of Promise~_

_Time: 165 CE_

_Location: Royal Castle, Capitol, United People's Republic of Spades_

Matthew knocked on the door. "My Lord? It's time for the conference."

He waited. Unlike previous times, he could not hear any shuffling to either get the door or to pretend he wasn't there. Just silence.

"Alfred?" he called. There was no answer. Hesitantly he tried the doorknob and to his surprise it turned. The room was empty; Alfred's usually cluttered office desk was clear of any overdue paperwork and the usual blueprints for various contraptions he was always working on.

Instead a single letter bearing the royal seal lay there. On the back -in Alfred's distinct writing- it read:

_To: Whom it may concern_

Curious, Matthew broke the seal and began to read.

Moments later he dropped the letter; he needed to get to Alfred. Fast.

_~We were the victims of ourselves~_

_Location: Royal Memorial, Capitol, United People's Republic of Spades_

Alfred ran his hands over the smooth wooden fence. How strange that only a barrier three feet high was supposed to keep people from falling off the edge.

"Alfred!" He turned around and saw his brother running towards him.

"Well I wasn't expecting someone to read my letter so soon."

"How can you not! Today's the conference; it starts in half an hour! Not to mention we were supposed to be there an hour early."

Alfred chucked, it was weird to hear him chuckle. "Just another miscalculation on my behalf I suppose."

He looked out over the cliff.

"Hey Matthew have you ever wondered what's on the other side?"

"The other side of what?"

"The ocean. We're constantly trapped here because if we go any further south, it'll be too hot to endure."

"I dunno. I bet Francis would be able to find out for you."

"Still on first name terms?"

Matthew nodded.

"But I want to see for myself. I bet we could, with modern advancements."

Matthew looked at Alfred curiously.

"What if we had enough electricity that we could move multiple fans up and down!"

"Alfred this isn't like you, stop acting this way."

"What way?"

"So… so damn philosophically!"

Alfred laughed, but this laugh was throaty; from anyone else it would have seemed encouraging, amusing. From Alfred… "You don't hate me then."

"Of course not, why would I?" Matthew instantly recognized his question as as a stupid one.

"Why wouldn't you?"

"Because I am your brother. And blood runs thicker than water." The two brothers stayed silent for a while.

"Hey Mattie, how do you think we came to be like this."

Matthew's eyes opened in surprise. It had been a long time since Alfred had used that name.

"I dunno." The twins turned around and looked upon the ruined capital city of Spades, knowing this destruction wasn't limited to their view but to most areas of the deck. "I guess it all started when you became king."

_~Maybe the children of a lesser God~_

_Time: 153 CE_

_Location: A farm in North America, United People's Republic of Spades_

"Quick Mattie! Turn on the radio" Alfred F Jones, stormed into the farmhouse.

"I thought you went to the market?" Matthew Williams asked.

"Yeah, I did," Alfred said.

"In five minutes?"

"Well no... I meant to, but I met Julie on the way and she said that something important is happening right now."

Matthew turned the dial on the radio.

_"This is just in: the King Clock has begun to spin in the Capitol and is pointing towards the east. To recap, the Queen, Arthur Kirkland was found in England a few months back. We have been waiting for the King ever since King George IV and Queen Elizabeth III died 4 years ago. To this day Jack Yao I, has been the only royal in Spades. Most of the other royals from other countries who died in the last shuffle also remain unchosen."_

"Hey! Do you think it could be somebody we know?" Alfred asked excitedly.

"North America is the only territory east of the Capitol. Besides most people here do live in Washington."

"Well I guess. Still'd be cool though"

"Maybe. Who knows?"

"_It appears the clock is pointing towards the region of America._"

*Knock, Knock*

"I'll get it!" Alfred said excitedly and jumped from the bed to rush to the door, his brother close behind.

In front of the door, a bunch of people in fancy dress with scrolls and books geeted their sight. One of them was... a man? Who was in his late-twenties, with black hair tied in a ponytail. In his hand was a clock held parallel to the floor. He moved it around, then looked at Alfred.

"Name?" he asked. He was obviously trying to hide his Chinese accent.

"Err, me?" Al asked; pointing to himself. "Alfred F Jones."

The man dropped to his knees. "Gentlemen, I present to you: his Royal Highness King Alfred the First."

_"The king has been found on a farm in America; his name is Alfred F. Jones and appears to be around 16 years of age."_

Except the voice wasn't only coming from the radio this time..

Alfred stood there with his mouth agape. "Say what?"

_~Between Heaven and Hell~_

**A/N And Cliffie XD**


	2. The Arrival

**Sorry I haven't posted in a long time! Anyways… now that I'm here...**

**Summary: **As Alfred and Matthew arrive in the capital, they notice a lot of differences between the Capitol and their home. They get a tour around the castle and meet the rest of the family members.

The Arrival

Instantly the Asian's calm, political façade fell. "Aiya! Do I have to repeat myself? You are the new King of Spades-aru!"

"No I got that…" Alfred said "But seriously. I mean what are the odds?"

"Well it has to happen to someone. Why not you?"

Alfred had always prided himself on being an all-American boy so it kinda made sense that he was chosen.

"Sorry I snapped at you" the Asian man grumbled "I'm Jack Wang Yao and have obviously had a lot going on in my life right now. I am here to pick you up and escort you to the castle. I will also be your tutor while you strive to become the new King."

"Like… leave? Right now?"

"No in 3 months, OF COURSE RIGHT NOW!"

"But what about all my stuff? And can I take my brother?"

Yao, for the first time, noticed Matthew standing behind Alfred. "Of course. A royal can host up to 3 family members in the castle where we live. As for your possessions we have a carriage for anything important you may want to carry with you, the rest may be given to a friend or family or donated or whatever, I don't care."

Matthew looked at Alfred "Julie? Her family needs it the most."

Alfred nodded.

It didn't take a lot of time to gather up all of their stuff, they didn't have many valuables and little time for recreation. They were farmers after all.

Julie was ecstatic at hearing the good news and promised to take care of the farm and the animals.

"Alright then we're ready." Alfred heaved his bag onto his shoulder.

"Are you alright? Don't you need help carrying all that stuff?"

"Nah, he'll be fine" Matthew said. "Once on the back from the market the horse got injured. Alfred carried all the stuff back after bringing the horse to an animal doctor." But as always no one heard him.

"Don't worry!" Alfred grinned "It's mostly clothes anyways."

"Aiyaaaa!" Yao said "You do not need to bring that many clothes, we will have a tailor in the Capitol make more for you."

"Alright then." Alfred frowned.

"Wouldn't you want to pack more of these contraptions anyways?" Yao asked "You must be proud of your work. Paving flat stones, planting crops between them and adding wheels to your plow so that its possible to move more with the same amount of people. Its simple yet brilliant!"

"Its the only reason we could keep farming this large tract of land" Alfred said "Its only me and Matthew so there's not much manpower however Dad left behind a lot of stuff and we wanted to keep working the land. We just didn't want to sell it."

"I understand-aru." Yao said "Are we ready to go?"

"Sure!"

~CJWrites~

Alfred and Matthew stared out the windows of the carriage in awe. The Capitol certainly was very different from the local town. It wasn't even comparable to Washington, the capital of North America. Matthew and Alfred had visited that particular city 6 years ago, but then again that was 6 years ago.

"Hey what is keeping those lamps alight?" Alfred asked pointing to a street lamp.

"Ah that's electricity, some of the newest technology-aru" Yao said

"How does it work?" Alfred asked.

Yao looked at him like he was crazy "A farm boy wouldn't understand the intricate workings of modern technology"

"Try us." Matthew said, however as usual he was ignored.

"Yeah who knows maybe we'll be able to. After all I built all the plows on the farm."

Yao raised his eyebrows "Well there are these tiny particles called electrons and they have a negative charge. We run those electrons through a wire which offers resistance. The friction between the wire and the electrons produces light."

"That's amazing" Matthew said but Alfred frowned.

"That's dandy and all but how do you make it? After all negatively charged particles don't move unless there is a magnet and those can be hard to get a hold of." Then an idea popped into Alfred's head "Wait if resistance can create light, wouldn't it create heat as well? "

"Very good boy. Of course there's a lot of other uses for electricity, you can turn big machines and get them to do work. Central Library has very good books on it-aru. The technology and research here is just as good as the kind in Washington."

Matthew's eyes lit up. It was every scientist, inventor and engineer's dream to work in Washington, the research there got the best funding and the best resources to work with.

"But books are boring" Alfred complained. "Its hard to see the letters and hard to sit through the whole thing"

"Yeah books can be a little difficult to read but they're always interesting."

Yao frowned. He held his 3 fingers up a few feet away from Alfred. "How many fingers am I holding up-aru?"

Alfred squinted and tried to move closer but Yao held him back. "I dunno... 2?"

"You need glasses." Yao said simply "We'll go prescribe them now. Driver please head to the closest spectacle shop"

"Yes sir." The coach driver said and they were on their way.

~CJWrites~

After getting good glasses for both Matthew and Alfred, the trio went to the castle.

Guards, clad in military blue, opened the gates where the country's motto, _Ipsa Scientia Potestas Est_, was inscribed in large cursive letters. They stood still in front of the new arrivals, who just gawked at them with their mouths open. On the way they met 2 people, also in guard uniforms.

They were less unresponsive than the other guards and greeted Yao cheerfully.

"Alfred, Matthew, this is Tino and Belward" Yao pointed at the short man first who smiled cheerfully and then at the much taller man with glasses who looked rather scary just nodded. "They are the heads of our military and from Scandinavia."

"So you're the new king!" Tino greeted. "Its so nice to meet you! We're going to teach you how to defend yourself and use a sword. We all hope you'll lead us to prosperity. Poor Yao has had so much to do! When you and the queen finally take your places, he'll finally have a chance to loosen up."

"What do you mean loosen up-aru!" Yao straightened up to his full height, which frankly wasn't that much. It was barely Alfred's height even though Alfred was still growing and Yao is about 15 years his senior. Belward, much taller than the rest of the people in the courtyard stepped in front of his partner.

"W' a'l kn'w y'u sh'uld rel'x" He muttered.

"I guess you're right-aru" Yao sighed. "It was so much easier with George and Bethy around" He straitened up again. "But I guess I'm used to it by now. Lets go inside."

The inside was, without any other word to describe it, wonderful. The grand ballroom, which doubled as a banquet hall, could hold hundreds of people. The kitchens would make as many hamburgers for Alfred as he wanted and elegant sitting and dining rooms filled the rest of the floor. The second floor was full of bedrooms and offices, namely for the 3 royals and their families. It also contained a private library. It was surreal for Alfred and Matthew who had been living all their lives in a small home in the countryside. Even though the library was apparently "small" it's almost as big as their house. The 4th floor was full of guest bedrooms for visiting dignitaries and he last floor was for servants. Yao had insisted they stay out of the room as it was unbecoming of royalty to see the servant's quarters.

"Why?"

"Servants are not meant to be seen. Only to be there when you need them" Yao had said.

Alfred just blinked.

They went back down to the 2nd floor, Yao led them to a few rooms. "This'll be your office-aru. You'll do all paperwork and other kingly duties here."

"Paperwork? Seriously? But Mattie does all the paperwork at home."

"This is your home now." Yao said, raising an eyebrow. "And you're the king. If you want you can have Matthew act as your assistant or advisor. But you can't just push all your work on him-aru!"

"And what do I do?" Matthew asked.

Yao blinked, seemingly just noticing him. "Oh right... err... well... I'm sure Alfred can make enough money to support the both of you!"

Matthew frowned. He didn't just want to rely on Alfred.

"Well you could get a job if you wanted to but there's really no need to."

Matthew thought about it. "Maybe..."

"See" Yao smiled "Everything will work out-aru! It did for me."

Alfred blinked "You were a farm boy too?"

"A factory one." Yao smiled sadly. "You'll learn about that in your lessons-aru"

"Lessons?"

"That's right! You'll be leading this country one day-aru so you'll have to be prepared. I doubt you have learnt everything you need to know."

Alfred sighed. Academics was really not his thing.

~CJWrites~

That afternoon Alfred slumped into Matthew's room and planted himself face first down on his bed. "Uuuuggghhhh"

"Whats wrong? And don't you have your own room to get back to..." Matthew replied, not even looking up from the book he was reading. Now that he didn't have to go to market every day and plow the fields he had much more time to relax.

Alfred rolled over onto his back. "All this stuff is making my head hurt. Its all so complex. Why can't things just be simple!"

Matthew sighed and put down the book he was reading, _A History of Spades and Swords_, "Well... why don't you explain it to me? I can be your advisor, that way you get to review what you have learned and I don't feel like a load anymore."

Alfred's eyes lit up "Yeah! That sounds like a great idea! You do all the work and I'll sleep!"

Matthew sighed. "I'm not going to do all your work!"

Alfred pouted. "Fine."

"Well then go on. Tell me what you learned today."

"Well... it was about geography and history and politics."

"No shit Sherlock. Well tell me. I need to know everything."

"It was about how this country is run. The clocks choose the Monarchs, the most capable and ordinary person to represent the people. There's 3 each of different classes. In Spades its based on the three levels of income but apparently its different for the other countries. The Jack comes from the lower classes , the King from middle class and the Queen from the nobility and high income families."

"What about the other countries?"

"Dunno... he said it was for next time. Anywho, a long time ago the 3 monarchs would rule on their own, making all the decision. Today its more of a parliamentary monarchy. Representatives are chosen for each region and come together to make decisions on ideas that the monarchs pitch. Then 2 or more of the royals and more than half the parliament has to agree."

"That sounds good."

"I guess. Certainly better than what was before... Well I dunno if its that easy to narrow down the whole population"

"Well, what else did you learn?"

Alfred shrugged "Nothing really that I didn't know before. Parliament members get elected by majority vote, there are multiple regions of Spades, yadi yadi yada."

"If you'd already known it then he wouldn't teach it to you!"

"Its all the same ya know? Yao is like that"

Someone knocked on the door and Matthew got up to open it, Yao stood in the doorway.

"Of course you're here. You should be in your bedroom! Well I've come to tell you its dinner time-aru."

"We'll be right down." Matthew said, sending a glare towards Alfred who was still lounging on the bed. Yao looked over and tried to hide his shock that he'd mistaken Matthew for Alfred again.

After Yao left, Matthew turned to Alfred "Comon! Lets go! I'm starving."

"Fine." Alfred grudgingly got up.

~CJWrites~

Inside the dining hall, there was a long silver and blue table, with chairs all around it. Some of them were already occupied.

Alfred pulled up a chair but before he could sit on it, a snide voice stopped him.

"The king sits in _the other _chair" Alfred turned to see a man, slightly older than him, with dishevelled blonde hair, emerald green eyes and GIANT eyebrows.

"And who are you? You can't tell me what to do!"

"Future Queen, Arthur Kirkland, it is a pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Alfred opened his mouth to snipe back but Yao intervened. "He's right you know. The King traditionally sits at the head of the table, with his queen and jack on his right and left respectively. Its one of the few traditions we've kept."

So Alfred sat himself at the appropriate seat while Matthew shrunk back into the shadows and took a seat near the end.

"Well as you can see we have a new addition to the royal family today" Yao said "This is Alfred, our future king. Lets have everyone introduce themselves."

Alfred felt like he was the new kid in class as the half dozen or so people looked at him, some with wide eyes, some that spoke of challenge and some who just seemed indifferent.

"Well... you already know me" Yao said sitting down "And you know Arthur too."

Arthur looked up, bored, from his teacup and raised his eyebrow. Alfred seemed to turn a bit red out of anger.

"I'm Hong." A young Asian boy with dark brown hair and slightly bushy eyebrows said. He started pouring a large amount of milk into his teacup. "Yao's brother"

"I'm Mei!" The young girl next to Hong smiled sweetly, she had a pink flower in her long hair. "I'm also Yao's sibling."

"Yong Soo-daze!" Another boy, this one was older and had sleeves waaaaayyyyy too long, butted in. "I'm Yao's cousin-daze!"

"Yong Soo! You didn't let me finish!" Mei shouted.

"Who cares daze! Introductions were invented in Korea daze!"

"Korea?"

"A region of China, you dunderhead" Arthur said, not even looking up from his tea.

"Honestly-aru! It was part of our lesson!"

"Oh..."

"I told you to pay more attention" Matthew muttered.

"You know, the Queen of Hearts has been chosen." Arthur mentioned offhandedly. "You were just away and its not on the news since everyone's caught up in our new plowboy that this piece of news has been overshadowed."

"What's his or her name?" Yao asked. "And of what religion?"

"Kiku Honda" Arthur said, taking another sip of tea "Of the Shinto religion."

Yao's eyes widened and he did a spit take, spraying all his tea over Arthur, who looked at him with an 'are-you-serious-look' The rest of Yao's family also looked dead serious. Mei inadvertently dropped her chopsticks, which clattered onto to her plate, and even Yong Soo had turned silent.

"Now if you excuse me. I will go change." Arthur said abruptly, standing up, sending a look towards Alfred and stalking off towards his room.

"Geez what's his problem?" Alfred grumbled.

"Get used to it." Yao grumbled "You have to _earn _the respect of the upper class."

"What's Yao's relationship to Kiku Honda?" Matthew turned to Hong, who blinked.

"I'm sorry. Who are you?"

"I'm Al's twin, Matthew" Said twin replied, "People don't notice me very much. Our sales in the markets show."

"Aaahhh well… nice to meet you Matthew. Kiku is our cousin. Or at least he was. Mei and I don't really care that much but something happened when Kiku's father left for Hearts. Yong Soo and Yao are still angry about it."

"Ohhhhh. Also, Yao. Can Mattie be my advisor person?" Alfred asked.

Yao blinked, as if trying to remember who 'Mattie' was. "Oh your brother! Sure, where is he anyways?"

Hong pointed towards the person beside him. Matthew gave a shy wave, preparing himself.

Yao let out a gasp "I AM SOOOO SORRRYY! I DIDN'T SEE YOU THERE-ARU!"

**Sorry about the long update… Again. Anyways I hope you enjoyed it! **


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